Aidan McHugh: Jamie e Andy Murray Always Find Time For Me

19 year old Aidan McHugh is a rising tennis player from Scotland with a ranking of No. 569 in the world. The Scot says he considers himself lucky to be friends with the Murray brothers, who he has looked up to all his life, while speaking to The National.

McHugh, who is also a client of Murray’s 77 Sports Management firm, says, “At the beginning it was a bit strange [becoming friends] as they were people I had looked up to from when I was really young. But I know them both very well now and they’ve been great with me. I can phone Andy and ask for advice on tennis but also about the mental side things or off- court issues like travelling and day-to-day stuff. They always find the time for me. I met up with Andy the other week and he’s always very open and helpful. They’re both up for chatting rubbish as well! We like to slag each other off a bit on social media so that’s always good fun. And it shows they don’t take themselves too seriously. Their success gives me a lot of confidence and it excites me to try get as close as I can to what they’ve achieved. If I could get anywhere close I would be delighted.”

McHugh says he is aware that there will be a lot of hopes on him to become the next top Scottish player, but knows that he will need to work very hard to reach the top level in professional tennis. “That day will come at some point and maybe people will wonder where the next Scottish tennis player is going to come from. So that’s something I’ll need to prepare for and deal with at the time. It’s also great motivation for me at this moment in time because I know I’ve a long way to go before I’m anywhere near that very top level. I just have to keep improving to give myself the best chance. I don’t think I’ll reach my peak until I’m closer to 22 or 23. With my build I know I can get stronger still. I’ve a bit to go yet before I can consider myself close to the finished article. I’m committed to giving tennis a real shot to see where it takes me. Different players kick on at different points in their careers so I need to keep plugging away and hope that leap forward comes to me too at some point.”

McHugh has won 3 singles titles on the ITF circuit so far, 1 of them in Singapore last year and 2 in Kuwait back in 2018.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2RC6sij